Plasma processing is an indispensable technique for manufacturing semiconductor devices. In view of the growing demand for higher and faster integration of large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) devices in recent years, there is a demand for techniques that enable finer micro-fabrication of semiconductor elements making up the LSI. However, the electron temperature of plasma generated in an inductively coupled plasma processing apparatus or a capacitively coupled plasma processing apparatus is rather high. Also, a region with an adequately high plasma density is rather limited. Thus, it has been difficult to provide a plasma processing technique that can adequately meet the demands of finer micro-fabrication of semiconductor elements.
To meet such demands for finer micro-fabrication of semiconductor elements, generation of plasma with a low electron temperature and a high plasma density is required. In this respect, Patent Document 1 discloses a micro-fabrication technique that involves generating plasma with a low electron temperature and a high plasma density by converting gas into plasma using a microwave output from a microwave output unit, and processing a workpiece using the generated plasma.